Palestinian factions still split over fight with Israel

Published: Saturday, February 10, 2007

SARAH EL DEEBASSOCIATED PRESS

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinians in Gaza were cautiously hopeful Friday that a new power-sharing deal would end months of deadly factional violence, but a Hamas leader's defiant vow to push on with the militant group's war against Israel was a stark reminder of how difficult it will be to make the accord stick.

Not only was there concern whether both sides would hold their fire, but the muted international response left many wondering whether the agreement between Hamas and the more moderate Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas would be enough to end crippling sanctions on the Palestinian government.

Tensions between Fatah and Hamas, a radical Islamic group that calls for Israel's destruction, soared after Hamas won parliamentary elections last year. The elections divided the government and sparked street battles in Gaza that have killed more than 130 people.

Negotiations for a unity government repeatedly broke down in disagreements over powerful ministries and how far the government would go toward recognizing Israel, one of three Western conditions for lifting the sanctions imposed after the elections. The West also demanded that Hamas accept past peace agreements with Israel and renounce violence.

Late Thursday, the two sides finally reached agreement during talks in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

"We have left behind all those black days forever and started a new page on a new government and a new way in Palestine," Abbas said.

The platform agreed to Thursday says the new government pledges to "respect" previous deals, instead of "abide by" them, as Abbas initially demanded. It makes no reference to recognizing Israel or renouncing violence.

Gazans welcomed the deal with euphoria and celebratory gunfire, hoping it will end the internal feuding that has kept them huddled in their homes in fear.

However, it quickly grew clear that Hamas might have trouble selling the accord - with its vague, implicit recognition of Israel - to its supporters, who have long called for the Jewish state's destruction.

"Our battle with the Israeli enemy is still on," Fathi Hamad, a Hamas leader in Gaza's Jebaliya refugee camp, told a few thousand supporters. He urged militant groups to resume attacks against Israel, and denied that Hamas would respect past peace deals.

"We will be the spearhead of jihad ... to defend Palestine and Arab and Muslim nations," he said.

If the U.S. and Israel are not convinced Hamas has sufficiently moderated, the West is unlikely to lift the sanctions, and it will be difficult to advance the peace process.

The United States said Friday it was too soon to tell whether the agreement satisfied its conditions for resuming aid. "We still haven't seen enough of the details on this to give you an answer," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

Steven Cook, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the United States would likely follow Israel's lead. "If it satisfies the Israelis, it's likely to satisfy us. But until that point, it's likely to be something that the United States looks at cautiously," he said.

Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Israel would not have a decisive response until Sunday's Cabinet meeting. Cabinet Minister Isaac Herzog told Army Radio that the government would read the agreement "with a magnifying glass" to see whether it met the international conditions.

The Quartet of Middle East negotiators - the U.S., the U.N., Russia and the European Union - held a conference call Friday to discuss the deal.

EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said all parties agreed there was a need "to take the time to consider, to see what the agreement is and how it is going to be implemented," before deciding on lifting the embargo.

At stake is roughly $1 billion a year in frozen aid from foreign donors in addition to approximately $500 million in withheld tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinians. The embargo has crippled the Palestinian government's ability to function, though the West and Israel have funneled millions of dollars through Abbas' office to prevent a complete collapse of the government.

The deal could also unravel in coming weeks as Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, tries to put together his new Cabinet, which will have nine Hamas ministers, six from Fatah and nine independents and representatives of smaller factions.

Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri, underscoring another thorny issue, said a Hamas militia that has repeatedly clashed with Fatah-dominated security forces would not be disbanded.

Wahid Abdel Meguid, deputy director of Cairo's Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said the accord was "very fragile" and that the two sides only papered over their difference. "It is not a real agreement," he said.

Mohammed Jawwad, a 35-year-old unemployed engineer in Gaza worried that he was right.

"This is temporary. Differences can't be buried overnight," he said. "On the surface they agreed. The details will make me believe."